Hebrew text may be damaged at this verse and consider that the account anciently read “the land adjoining Lebanon,” or ‘as far as the border of the Gebalites.’ However, it should also be observed that Jehovah’s promises in Joshua 13:2-7 were conditional. Thus Israel may never have gained Gebal because of its own disobedience.​—Compare Jos 23:12, 13.

Gebalites helped Solomon in the 11th century B.C.E. with the preparation of the materials for the temple construction. (1Ki 5:18) Jehovah lists the “old men of Gebal” among those who assisted in maintaining ancient Tyre’s commercial might and glory.​—Eze 27:9.

2. A different Gebal is listed with Ammon and Amalek in Psalm 83:7, and thus apparently lay S or E of the Dead Sea. Although its exact location is unknown, some scholars place it in the vicinity of Petra, about 100 km (60 mi) NNE of the Gulf of ʽAqaba.

(Geʹber) [Able-Bodied Man].

One of Solomon’s 12 deputies who had the responsibility of providing food for the king and his household one month out of the year. Geber is identified as the son of Uri, and it is probable that his son also served as a deputy.​—1Ki 4:7, 13, 19.

(Geʹbim) [Ditches].

A site the inhabitants of which sought shelter from the advancing Assyrian army when it moved against Zion, evidently in the days of Hezekiah. (Isa 10:24, 31; compare chaps 36, 37.) Its exact location is not known.

[Heb., ʼana·qahʹ; sema·mithʹ].

A small, usually thick-bodied lizard with tiny scales covering its body. The eyes are relatively large, catlike, and the gecko’s toes are comparatively broad. Found in warm climates, the geckos live in the woods, among rocks, in trees, and sometimes in human dwellings. Six kinds of these nocturnal lizards are found in Palestine.

The “gecko fanfoot” (Hemidactylus turcicus) of Leviticus 11:29, 30 is listed as “unclean” for the Israelites. At Proverbs 30:28, “the gecko lizard” (Heb., sema·mithʹ) is spoken of as taking “hold with its own hands” and making its way into the king’s palace. Regarding the gecko’s toes, The International Wildlife Encyclopedia says: “They have numerous microscopic hooks that catch in the slightest irregularities, even those in the surface of glass, and so a gecko can cling to all but the most highly polished surfaces. The hooks are directed backwards and downwards and to disengage them the toe must be lifted upwards from the tip. As a result, a gecko running up a tree or a wall or along a ceiling must curl and uncurl its toes at each step with a speed faster than the eye can follow. Some of the hooks are so small the high power of a microscope is needed to see them, yet a single toe armed with numbers of these incredibly small hooks can support several times the weight of a gecko’s body.”​—Edited by M. and R. Burton, 1969, Vol. 7, pp. 856, 857.

(Ged·a·liʹah) [Jehovah Is Great].

1. A Levite singer who, in David’s time, was designated by lot to be in charge of the second of the 24 service groups of 12 musicians each.​—1Ch 25:3, 9, 31.

2. Grandfather of the prophet Zephaniah and possibly a descendant of King Hezekiah.​—Zep 1:1.

3. Son of Pashhur; one of the princes in Jerusalem who accused Jeremiah before King Zedekiah of weakening the fighting men and all the people and urged that Jeremiah be put to death for this. Upon being given a free hand by the king, these princes threw Jeremiah into a miry cistern.​—Jer 38:1-6.

4. “The son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan.” After the destruction of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E., King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah as governor over the Jews who had been left remaining in the land of Judah. Gedaliah established his residence at Mizpah, and here the prophet Jeremiah took up dwelling. Then the Judean military chiefs who had escaped capture, upon hearing that Gedaliah had been appointed as governor, came with their men to him at Mizpah. Gedaliah assured them, under oath, that it would go well with them as long as they continued serving the king of Babylon, and he encouraged them to gather wine, oil, and summer fruits. Even the Jews who were dispersed in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and other places continued coming to Gedaliah.

All of this was evidently not to the liking of Baalis the king of Ammon, who was successful in enlisting the cooperation of Ishmael in an assassination plot against Governor Gedaliah. Learning of this, Johanan and the other chiefs of the military forces advised the governor accordingly, but he did not believe them. Johanan even approached Gedaliah in private and offered to thwart the scheme by killing Ishmael. But Gedaliah would not hear of it, thinking that falsehood was being spoken about Ishmael. So when Ishmael, along with ten other men, came to Mizpah,